Football
ESPN staff 8y

MLS expansion announcement coming 'in a couple of weeks' - Don Garber

MLS will have an expansion announcement "in a couple of weeks", commissioner Don Garber says.

Speaking to ESPN at halftime of the MLS All-Star Game on Thursday night, Garber confirmed that Atlanta United is set to debut next season.

He also suggested that Minnesota United could also start in 2017, though he didn't mention the club by name.

"Let's start with the first one, Atlanta," Garber said. "They made a presentation at our board meeting, 31,000 season ticket deposits, unbelievable technical development, a training ground, so we know they're coming in next.

"We know we have another announcement in a couple of weeks of who will join them."

Garber has previously outlined MLS' plans for both teams to join the league next season, but the Minnesota club has yet to secure the property tax exemption it seeks to build its privately funded stadium in St. Paul, putting the team's start date in jeopardy.

Garber then provided updates on the next two expansion teams to follow, including David Beckham's troubled franchise in Miami, though he said nothing was set for the final spots in his ultimate plans to reach 28 teams.

"LAFC are going to break ground on their stadium in two weeks and we hope to still get something done in Miami, but then we'll have four more teams [after that].

"I can't tell you when that's going to be, we're going to be careful and we're going to make sure that we manage the technical aspects of expansion, but there's a lot of interest, probably a dozen cities for those last four spots.

"Every time we talk about [Miami] things are happening there, but it takes time. You've got to get it right. We failed there once. We have a good investor, we've got David engaged, we've got a site, but it's going to take some time before we've got any real news."

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